Photo Credit: Nirat

The following is a summary of “A matter of personality and point of view: How the interplay of reinforcement sensitivity and general attitudes towards pain impacts the responsivity to acute pain,” published in the February 2024 issue of Pain by Vetterlein et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate how interactions between Grey’s revised reinforcement sensitivity theory (rRST) traits, including the behavioral approach system (BAS) and behavioral inhibition system (BIS), and individual pain attitudes influence pain responsiveness.

They involved 275 healthy participants to examine the connections between rRST traits and pain attitudes. Participants completed Reuter and Montag’s rRST-Q and the General Attitudes Towards Pain Inventory (GATPI). From 113 participants, pain responsiveness data, including experimental (pressure, electrical, thermal) and self-report measures, were collected.

The results showed a link between rRST-Q and GATPI subscales, reaching up to r = 0.34. Two clusters were discerned, showing significant differences in rRST-Q and GATPI scores. Pain avoiders, characterized by high BIS, flight, freezing, and negative pain attitudes, exhibited significantly greater pain sensitivity than pain approachers, characterized by high BAS, fight, and positive pain attitudes. Moderate effects (d = 0.56 to d = 0.70) were observed across subjective and objective measures and pain modalities.

Investigators concluded that Grey’s rRST traits and pain attitudes predict pain responsiveness, suggesting future research on chronic pain prevention and therapy, especially for pain avoiders.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ejp.2248